Fruitvale Station is a biography, drama, romance film that
was directed and written by Ryan Coogler. It was produced in 2013 by Nina Yang
Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker with Forest Whitaker’s Significant Productions and
OG Project. It was distributed in the USA by The Weinstein Company. The music
was by Ludwig Goransson, the DOP was Rachel Morrison and the editors were
Claudia Castello and Michael P. Shawver. Fruitvale Station had a budget of
$900,000 and went on to make $17.4 million in the box-office, with $16 million
coming from the United States alone. This resulted in the film winning 49
awards including an AAFCA for the best independent feature film and an AFI for
movie of the year. Starring Michael B. Jordan (Oscar Grant), Melonie Diaz
(Sophina), Octavia Spencer (Wanda), Ariana Neal (Tatiana), Kevin Durand
(Officer Caruso) and Chad Michael Murray (Officer Ingram), Fruitvale Station is
based upon the true story of Oscar Grant III who was shot by a BART policeman
at Fruitvale Station on January 1, 2009 at 2:15 am. The film follows Grant’s
last day and we learn more about him through his encounters with friends,
family, enemies and strangers and how he tries to make himself a better person.
Fruitvale Station was Ryan Coogler’s first feature film and
when Oscar Grant was shot, Coogler was a graduate student at the University Of
Southern California School Of Cinematic Arts. He then wanted to make a film
about Grant’s last twenty four hours and in order to do this, he had to work
closely with Grants family and their attorney, John Burris in order to gain
realistic and heartfelt information. Coogler quotes: “I wanted the audience to
get to know this guy, to get attached, so when the situation that happens to
him happens, it’s not just like you read it in the paper”. I believe this is
very significant because it truly fits to the conventions of a biography as it
allows the audience to know as much as possible about Oscar in a short amount
of time, allowing them to be affected by his death as if he was family to them.
Of course it has been dramatized in places to allow Coogler to embed more
meaning but only in a way so the audience are forced into reality, experiencing
Oscars final day almost through his own eyes.
It was shot in the actual places of the event: Bay Area
Rapid Transit (BART) platform and San Quentin State Prison in Oakland,
California and actual footage of the Grant’s murder was used at the beginning
of the film. Promotion wise, in the lead up to the film, The Weinstein Company
arranged three paintings to be made by street artists: Ron English, Lydia Emily
and LNY in LA, New York and San Francisco and the company also set up a
campaign called ‘I Am…” which encourages people to share stories and photos of
social injustice. Since Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler is currently at the
post-production stage of his next feature film, Creed and previously he has
directed three short films: Locks (2009), Fig (2011) and The Sculptor (2011).
Michael B. Jordan has gone on to act in That Awkward Moment (2014), Fantastic
Four (2015) and he is going to be starring in Creed.
Fruitvale Station mostly follows a linear narrative
structure but the first moving image shot the audience are introduced to is the
actual real-life footage of Oscar Grant being shot by a BART officer in which
the films portrayal of this is shown at the end which is a non-linear approach.
This means the audience are aware of the ending before the films narrative
begins but I believe Coogler has done this to create a juxtaposition between
newspaper portrayals and the way his film represented the event. The footage makes
the black people appear rowdy and almost aggressive because all you can see is
them shouting at the officers and because we do not know the full story, we
automatically follow the medias stereotypes and assume the gang was to blame in
the situation. However, once we have watched the film, we feel as if we know
Oscar so gain an emotional attachment to him, meaning that when we see the
films version of the shooting at the end, we watch it in a different light,
this time feeling empathy towards the gang and Oscar, and hatred towards the
officers. This further illustrates that newspapers represent stories in similar
ways each time and because we are so used to the consistent stereotypes, the story
does not affect us as much as it should and it does not stick in our minds,
however after watching the film, the event stays with the viewer because we
have that additional information that newspapers seem to disregard each and
every time. Therefore, by inserting the actual footage at the beginning of the
film, Coogler may have intended for the audience to have a change of perception
and he may have wanted them to realise this so they understand the construction
of the news and how they are not always given the full story.
Additionally within the narrative, there is a manipulation
of time by showing a flashback of when Oscar was in prison. This was very
significant to the film because it portrays the relationship Oscar had with his
mother and how it had changed and it also introduces the audience to Oscar’s
violent and angry side which is illustrated through an argument he has with a
fellow prisoner. However, his mannerisms are completely different when talking
to his mother, he is calm and affectionate which conveys the amount of love he
has for her and when she leaves after having an argument with him, he gets
extremely upset when she doesn’t hug him and he repeats the words “I’m sorry”.
This also shows how much Oscar cares for his mother and at this point, she was
clearly the closest thing to him so he was afraid of losing her.
The representation in Fruitvale Station does feature racial
inequality but it is not the typical ‘good vs evil/ black vs white’ and
instead, Coogler focuses on humanity whilst challenging the stereotypes we
hear, read and see in the media. A scene which I thought was particularly
symbolic was when Oscar finds a stray pit bull which is moments later, hit by a
car followed by Oscar holding it in his arms, covered in blood and then leaving
it to die in the street. Pit bulls are often shown by the media to be dangerous
and violent and you are likely to hear only negative stories about how they
have been killed or killed someone. African-Americans are also portrayed in
negative ways and they most often are seen in the media regarding death or
murder. Therefore, the pit bull represents the negativity that is associated
with African-Americans and it was as if Oscar realised this which is why he
spends the dogs last moments holding him because he can emphasise and almost
relate to him. Coogler said in an interview with The Huffington Post “so, there’s
a commonality with us and pit bulls- often we die in the street. That’s where
we die”.
There is another key scene which underlines one of the main
separations between black and white people in a very subtle manner. Oscar is
left talking to a white man as his wife and Sophina use the toilet. In this
scene, we learn that Oscar plans on asking Sophina to marry him but money is a
huge barrier to this and when he tells the husband this, he admits that he used
to be broke and even had to steal a ring for his wife. He then goes on to say
that he now has his own business and has managed to get his life well back on
track whilst Oscar is struggling to get his job back at a grocery store (he was
fired for being late) but still manages to put his family first and do the best
that he can for them. This highlights how much harder it is for black people to
reach a stable equilibrium than it is for white people and Oscar is clearly
aware of this because there is a look of respect but also jealously on his face
when he is handed the man’s business card as he realises that getting to such a
stage is not so easy for him.
The scene towards the end of the film, in which Oscar is
shot by a police-officer, brings out the strong theme of humanity. Although at
first, there is a clear binary opposite between the black friends and the white
officers, after Oscar is shot, the separation of race is no longer the focus
and the audience are drawn to the reaction of the officer who has a sheer look
of panic, fear and shock on his face because he realises what he has done,
especially when Oscar informs him that he has a daughter. The officer may have
appeared cruel, heartless and ‘evil’ at first, but his real human nature is
gradually un-ravelled to the extent that he can express his true emotions and I
believe Coogler did a fantastic job of portraying this and bringing out the
humanity in each of his characters and therefore illustrating that one of the
values in Fruitvale Station is about the tiny details and elements of life
which all matter as they build up to a series of events.
In conclusion, I loved Fruitvale Station because I became
very emotionally attached to the protagonist, Oscar and the fact it was based
upon a true story really enhanced this. As a member of the audience, I was able
to understand more about the event than if I had read it in a newspaper because
I was given an insight into how his family reacted and into Oscar’s personal
life and the media often does not focus on factors like this, meaning readers
may struggle to emphasize as much as they would if they watched this film. I
would recommend it to anyone and I rate it a 10/10.
